


Proceed with Caution

by rvehall



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Christmas, Christmas Fan Fic, Gen, Harry Potter Christmas, Magic, Original Character(s), Witches, Wizards, accidental magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 17:06:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12822114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rvehall/pseuds/rvehall





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [miridelaney](https://archiveofourown.org/users/miridelaney/gifts).



God, I fucking wish I was asleep. This was a terrible idea.

It was a terrible idea to go hunt down the cause of the virus, to find a cure. It was a terrible idea to try to hide in plain sight. We should have just stayed back in England. Americans are such brutes.

The warehouse was cool and damp. The air smelled like rotting flesh, moldy food, the dirt that got stuck under fingernails, and an incense someone lit to try to cover up the job they did in the bathroom. This didn’t help Ginny as she crouched in the corner of the vacant building with no heat in the middle of winter trying not to be murdered by the very people she once called friends.

Creaks echoed through the building as people moved and as the building settled, sometimes making it hard to tell if it was the building settling or people moving. Ginny crouched with baited breath, praying not to sneeze or cough. And then everything was still. Quiet. Nothing moved let alone dared to breath. Ginny didn’t risk going to see if her pursuers had given up: she knew they were waiting. They were patient. The door creaked open and Ginny moved into a position that made it easier for her to defend herself, fist half balled around her wand and ready to stupefy whoever came through the door. Her heart beat out of her chest.

“Don’t shoot,” came the quiet voice of Harry Potter. He stuck his hand in and slowly pushed the door further open with the other.

Ginny relaxed. “How did you know I was in here?” More importantly, she wanted to know how he found her and they hadn’t. Had they found her but forced him to come in first so she’d drop her guard? Would they steep that low? Yeah, they would; they were despicable creatures.

“We were supposed to meet for dinner and you never showed.” He slithered into the room and closed the door. “My power, along with several others on the block, went out.” He moved across the room with ease and speed. “There is no storm to knock it out so I figured it was you. There are Bobbies everywhere and –”

“How did you get past all of them?” Ginny cocked her head, blinking.

“Dean.” He held out his hand for her to take but she didn’t. “We have to go.” He made a fist quickly, twice, as he said this, looking behind him at the door. “Seriously. We should go. I don’t think Dean can hold him off much longer.”  
She inched forward. The room was empty save for a few items scattered across the floor. Her concern wasn’t bumping into anything and making a noise: it was making it out alive. Her heart beat out of her chest as she inched toward Harry.

“Harry. How are we going to get out?”

“We have that covered, Ginny.” He looked back at her and shook his hand with such severeness, it looked as if his hand was seizing. “Come on. We have to go.” He moved back across the room to the door and with his other hand, he grabbed the door handle, ready bolt. As Ginny inched forward, Harry cracked the door open and peeked out. The coast was clear. When he turned back to her, she was still halfway across the room so he ran to her and grabbed her arm and dragged her the rest of the way across the room.

“Why are you doing this? Why are you saving me?” Her voice shook and sounded as if it didn’t want to leave her lips.

“Because you’re my friend and we came here to find a cure. We can’t do that if you’re dead. Now we have to go.” He peeked out once more before he threw the door open. “If there was any time you should use your magic outside of school, it would be today. Your life, our lives, could depend on it.”

He dashed out of the room with her in tow. They moved through the halls as silent as the grave, missing all other living creatures. Because the warehouse smelled of mold and dirt and dead things, and it was a surprise that anyone could have worked here within the past decade. They made their way to the back of the warehouse where there were bay doors that opened to the rear docks and an alley that sat beside the forest. Upon reaching them, Harry tried throwing one open but it was locked so he moved to the next one. Also, locked. These were made of glass with slots big enough for them to squeeze through.

“Move,” Ginny hissed. She pointed her wand towards one of the locks. “Alohamora.”

She glided towards the unlocked door, snatching Harry on the way and escaped to the tree line. Once in the shadows, they stopped to gather their breaths and thoughts. Their chilled breath glowed in the moonlight.

“How did you know which room I was in, anyway?” She looked up at him, curious.

“Dean mentioned this spot and I know you two have come here alone.” Harry smiled at her and ran his thumb down her cheek. “Come on. I promised Dean we’d meet him at the rendezvous point by midnight. Otherwise, he’ll come looking for us and you know how he gets when he has to go looking for people.”

“Yeah.” Ginny took a few steps towards the center of the forest. Harry wasn’t moving. “Where is the rendezvous point?”  
He smiled and pointed in the direction they came. “There’s a safe house.” He looked at her as if to say Yeah, I know we just came from that direction and shrugged. “We can follow the tree line for a mile or two and head back to the edge of the forest. It shouldn’t take us long, especially if we run.”

“We don’t have our brooms and even if we did, it’d be too dangerous to use them.” Of course, this was subject for concern. They both were great flyers but sucked at running.

“That’s okay. We just need to get away from the warehouse.” He started walking south parallel to the forest edge. “We’ll get there in no time.” He beamed. “Come on, slowpoke.” And with that, he started running as fast as he could.  
Ginny easily caught up to Harry. They zigzagged through the trees and jumped over fallen logs, muggy air, and random twigs hitting their faces. They flew through the forest until Harry slowed to a stop. He bent over and rested his hands on his knees.

“You of all people ought to know that you need to keep moving while your heart rate comes down,” Ginny chided. She grabbed him by his underarms and pulled him into an upright position. She placed his hands on his head and pushed him forward, forcing him to walk.

Through pants, he said, “We’re almost there.” They were near the old mill town. The mill – an old textile mill – had been shut down for ages but people still lived in its town. They were poor but educated and proud. They weren’t educated in typical schools but rather from reading and passed down history. Their English was not your ‘standard American English’ but rather a dialect remnant of Gullah and a culture remnant of the deep American South.

Harry led the way to a small, white mill house that had a blanket over the porch rail, the porch lamp on, and a wreath on the door. “This is it,” he said as he stepped up to the door. Before he could knock, the door opened enough for a slightly woman with graying hair to poke her head through.

“Wuh do hunnuh want?” Her voice was smooth, soothing.

The warmth and the smell of food came wafting out: shrimp; cheesy grits; spicy beef sausage; peppers; onions; spices Ginny couldn’t identify. Heaven. It didn’t help that she was hot and hungry. She had, in fact, been on her way to Harry’s when she had sneezed, which had caused her to emit a small bit of electricity that had blown a nearby street lamp. Unfortunately, there was a group of muggles nearby who called themselves the Patriots. They patrolled the streets looking for any wizards, infected or not, that they could eradicate them. They wanted all wizards exterminated.

“Happy Christmas, Ms. Parker. We're looking for salvation,” Harry said. There was a pause as Ginny looked at Harry and the woman. It seemed like forever before anyone said or did anything. Finally, the woman looked directly at Ginny for the first time. Harry patted his pockets and chirped, “Oh, right.” He pulled a gold dollar out of his inside jacket pocket and handed it to the woman. 

She put out her hand and took it, and held open the door for them to enter.

The inside of her house was warm and old: one wall was brick and the others had wood panels; there was a fire going; she had a wooden coffee table covered with wicker baskets in the center of the room and a deep red couch with a gold pattern against a wall beside a plain Christmas tree with nothing but an angel on top and lights wrapped around it.

As they stepped over the threshold, the woman held out her hand to wave them in. “Bittle will be ready shawty. Da bittle hab supshun enn’um so I hope hunnuh ar’ hongry.” Before either Harry or Ginny could answer, the woman walked off into the kitchen from where she called “Hab a seat.”

Harry took his and Ginny's coat to the closet in the hall before he sat down and leaned back as if he’d been there before. Ginny looked around for a moment before she sat down, too, and put up her wand. Almost instantly, the woman was back in the room with drinks.

“Here.” She handed a cup to each of them.

Harry stood up and took his drink. He nodded, said, “Thank you,” sat back down and took a sip. “This,” he began, extending a hand towards Ginny, “is Ginny. She’s a wizard, too. Infected by the virus.” He turned to Ginny. “This lovely woman is Ms. Parker. She’s Dean’s aunt. His parents moved to the England before he was born but much of his extended family still lives here in the United States.”

Ginny’s face lit up as she stood up and stuck out a hand. “Oh! It’s so nice to finally meet someone from Dean’s family.”  
“Uh-huh.” Ms. Parker kept her hands to herself. “Da bittle should be done shawty.” She started towards the kitchen again but before she could make it, there came a knock at the door. “Go mek da bowls, Harry,” she said as she floated towards the door. Harry did as he was told. She cracked the door open but this time, she didn’t ask a question or wait for a response. She threw the door open to show Dean on the other side. “Come’yuh,” she said.

Dean stepped other the threshold and closed the door before stepping into his aunt’s hug. “How are you doing, Auntie? How are you holding up?”

“I’s goot. Hunnuh?” She let Dean go so he could breath. She was beaming at him the way a proud mother looked at her child when they were about to walk across the stage during college graduation.

“I’m good, Auntie. Better now that I get to see you.” A smile grew from ear to ear as Dean kissed his aunt on the cheek. As he was taking off his jacket, he asked, “What is that yumminess I smell? Is that shrimp and grits, Auntie?” Dean had a rolling laugh that filled the room. “You know that’s my favorite.” He kissed her on the cheek again and headed to the kitchen. On his way back, he waved to Ginny and said, “Hey, Ginny. Happy Christmas. I’ll be right back. Let me wash my hands.”

“Before you go,” Ginny said. “We’re safe? No one followed us?” Her voice cracked.

“We’re safe for now,” Dean said as he headed to the back of the house. “We’ll eat right quick then we’ll meet Dr. Hoffman for an emergency meeting.” Before Ginny could ask any more questions, Dean disappeared into the back.  
That left just Ginny and Ms. Parker together. Being the ball of awkwardness that she is, Ginny had not a single idea of what she should say to Ms. Parker. It wasn’t like Ginny could understand half of what Ms. Parker said anyways so they just looked at each other with stiff smiles before Ms. Parker headed back to the kitchen.

Dean called from the doorway, “Food’s ready.” He waved her back and disappeared again.

Ginny followed the smell of food and sound of laughter back to the dining area where four bowls of shrimp and grits had been set out on a small round table in a quaint room. Harry pulled a chair out for Ginny and Dean pulled a chair out for his aunt. Ginny looked around the room as she sat down. The walls were a grass green with oak baseboards and floors. The table was a glass top set on a gold colored frame with cushioned chairs to match. There was a vase of fake flowers in the middle of the table. Candles flickered around the room – the lights had been turned off. It was then that Ginny realized that the whole house was lit by candles and that’s what gave the warmth of the place.

“If you don’t mind my asking, ma’am, why is your place lit by candles rather than by the electric lights?” There was silence as Harry and Dean looked at each other, faces pale. “I only ask because if you have an electrical problem, I may be able to fix it.”

Ms. Parker smiled at Ginny across the table as Harry and Dean eased into their chairs with baited breath. She picked up her pepper shaker and started shaking pepper into the air. Electricity sparked from Ginny’s fingers as she went to cover her mouth as she sneezed, breaking a few glasses, and Dean emitted a small gust of went that blew the candles out.  
“Oh,” Ginny said. She sounded like she’d been told that she failed her O.W.Ls or N.E.W.Ts. “Right.” She took out her wand and relit the candles. “Because you can relight candles but not blown bulbs.”

It seemed as if what had just occurred had sucked the warmth and air out of the room.

“I’m sorry,” Ginny whispered. She clasped her hands under the table and daren’t move.

“Humph.” Ms. Parker turned to her nephew. “Say da pray t’night?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Dean’s teeth were a bright white even by candlelight. He cupped his aunt’s hand and reached towards Ginny with his free hand, palm up. Ginny took his it and reached for Harry’s already waiting hand. “Let’s bow our heads,” Dean said. “Dear Father. Thank you for allowing us to come together one more time. Thank you for giving us one more day to breath and defend our freedom. Thank you for all the wonderful people you have allowed into our lives. Thank you for giving us the strength to keep pushing forward. And lastly, thank you for blessing us with this wonderful food. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” He looked up and smiled at everyone. "Happy Christmas, everyone."

Harry and Ginny muttered 'Happy Christmas' back.

“T’engky, Dean. Merry Christmas.” She picked up a fork and stabbed a shrimp. Harry and Dean followed suit. “So. Ms. Ginny. Wut do hunnuh do for a lib?”

Ginny picked up her fork and rested her forearm on the edge of the table. “I’m still in school at Hogwarts. Fifth-year.” Ginny had shrimp and grits before but never this good. “Mmm. You must use voodoo. This is so good.”

Ms. Parker stopped eating and looked at her, taken aback by her statement.

Upon opening her eyes and seeing the look across the table from her, Ginny realized how her statement could have come across. “This is good. Really good. I wish I could cook as well as this.” Ms. Parker raised her eyebrow and continued eating. It didn’t seem to be going to well for Ginny and she swore she’d keep her mouth shut for the rest of the night. Obviously, everything she said came out wrong.

“How have you been since I last saw you, Auntie?” Dean looked at Ginny as if to say he understood but, how could he? He wasn’t an awkward dork. He wasn’t a Weasley. “Anything new?”

“’Side frum wizards bein’ hunted?” She chuckled and took another bite. “Nuttin’.” A curious mischievous glint flickered in her eye.

“What about you, Harry?” Dean looked across the table at Harry.

Harry covered his mouth as he finished chewing. “Oh, you know. The same old, same old. Voldemort trying to kill me. Oh, and of course, the Oder of the Phoenix. What about yourself?”

Dean looked at him squarely and said, “I’m trying not to get slaughtered.” No one moved and then there was a gust of wind that blew the candles out again.

“That’s not funny, Dean,” Ginny said. She took picked up her wand. “Lumos,” She said only to see that the woman who had been kind enough to feed them was stiff with blood dripping from her throat. Ginny launched herself backward, knocking her chair over and landing on her back. “What the fuck!” She scrambled to her feet. She heard people moving around but she couldn’t tell who it was. “Dean! Harry!”

Someone grabbed her arm and pulled her through the house – through which rooms, she couldn’t tell – and out the back door. It was so hot and she felt as if she were drinking the air as she was pulled through the yard. To make things worse, she had on was a t-shirt, jeans, and boots. Goose bumps ran up her arms. She was pulled into the bushes.

“We need to go.” It was Dean. His eyes were wide and skin pale and he was shaking a bit.

“Harry! What about Harry!” Ginny pulled away from Dean to peek around the bush but Dean yanked her back.

“He’ll be fine. We have to get going.” He grabbed her by her underarm and pulled her to the back fence.

As they reached it, Harry came huffing out the back door. Blood ran down the side of his face as he ran towards them and he rubbed his scare, his face scrunched in pain. “Go!” He limped across the yard as he waved them onward.  
Dean pushed the back gate open and shoved Ginny threw as the back door banged open again. This time, it wasn’t a friendly face. The guy who came through the backdoor raised an assault rifle that flew out of his hands as he was propelled back into the house by two spells from Harry.

Harry, Ginny, and Dean ran into the woods behind Ms. Parker’s house in hopes of cover but it the people who were hunting them was already ahead of them.

“Run!” Ginny shouted to Harry as if he had to be told He banked left, running between the woods and the yards. Ginny sent magic toward the Patriots as she went in the other direction, Dean not far behind. Ginny sneezed and electricity flew from her wand and set the woods on fire. That was fine by her because that got the Patriots off their tails.

Ginny and Dean, upon coming to an opening between houses, disappeared into the neighborhood. When they came to the main street, there were more Patriots waiting for them. It was as if they were wizards people and could apparate or used legilimency and could read where they were going.

As they approached the street, Dean pulled Ginny close to him and whispered, “Dr. Hoffman says she’s close to a cure for us and a vaccine for those who haven’t been infected yet. We were originally scheduled to meet next week but we figured it would be more important to meet sooner.” Their faces were known by now but at least with a cure for the virus, they wouldn’t simultaneously sneeze and blow up the building beside them. They could hide easier before going back to England. “Meet me at the lab – the Tech-ology building. Do you remember where it is?” Dean asked. When she nodded, he pushed her to the back towards Ms. Parker’s house and the lab as he ran in the other direction.

Ginny saw Dean bring his hand up to his face like he knew he was about to cough or sneeze and as it came, she ducked just in time. Windows in a few of the closest houses shattered.

As soon as the gust passed, Ginny shot up and bolted towards the lab. The Patriots seemed to have been momentarily deflated, gone, but she kept running. Oh, if Dr. Hoffman found a cure, her brothers could be cured, too! She ran and ran.

The neighborhood eventually gave way to a small business district. She turned down a few streets and passed several business centers before arriving at the building where Dr. Hoffman had her lab. A few of the lights on the third floor were on but the building was otherwise dark. She pulled on the front doors. Locked. It was probably close to eleven o’clock. Most everyone had already gone home to their warm beds. She patted her pockets for her wand – sure she still had it—

There was a sharp, paralyzing pain at the base of her skull.


	2. Chapter 2

Ginny could feel the cold, hard slab of metal underneath her but she couldn’t move. The room she was in was smelled hospital clean – sterile. There were clinks of glass coming from her right. She tried opening her eyes. Nope. And then she tried to move her finger. Nope. The heartbeat in her ears almost drowned out the clinking glass as she tried to gulp in air.

Someone heard her sharp intake. Ginny heard them put down whatever it was they were holding and walk over to her. She heard a British accent say, “I’m sorry. I had to be safe. You weren’t with Dean so I wasn’t sure if it was you.” A hand brushed Ginny’s hair. “The effects will wear off soon enough. Just relax.”

Ginny couldn’t feel any restraints on her so perhaps she wasn’t held captive but why had she been knocked out?  
The clinking continued for a few more minutes and then came the smell of tea and honey. Ginny found she could move ever so slightly so she cracked her eyes and tilted her head in the direction she thought the lady was in. There was a black woman with naturally red dreads in a lab coat standing in the far counter. She was leaning against the counter as she sipped her tea and stared at the door.

It wasn’t even five minutes before Dean came through the door with Harry, both sweaty. They paused, hands on knees and out of breath. Once Dean caught him, he stammered, “Why is she just lying on the table?”

“I gave her a mix of pancuronium bromide and nitroglycerin.” The red-head said this as if it were something she did every day like it was something a normal person would do.

“What!” Harry stood straight up, quick as a bunny. “Why would you give her that?”

“Because she was just standing outside. I didn’t know who she was.” The red-head took a sip of her tea. “It wasn’t until I got her inside and saw the picture you texted me that I knew it was her.”

“So you knocked her out?” Dean’s voice shook.

“Did you not just hear me? I didn’t know who she was.” The red-head slammed her mug on the counter causing some of the tea to slosh out. “If she was one of them and got in here, all of this would be for naught.”

“Does she look like a Patriot to you?” Dean threw his hands in the air before he grabbed his hair and pulled. “Jesus, Hoffman! What were you thinking?” Dean started to pace. “And if she were a Patriot, what had you planned on doing once you got her up here? You’d’ve done her job for her.”

Dr. Hoffman didn’t answer. Her face contorted as she tried to think of an answer. “You know, the less likely she’ll emit accidental magic.”

“You have such Christmas spirit.” Dean rolled his eyes as he walked across the room to the table where Ginny was trying to push herself up into sitting position but Dean shoved her back down. “With the concoction she gave you, you might want to rest for a little before trying anything too fancy like sitting up.” Dean shot Dr. Hoffman a dirty look. “She’s usually not so careless. Are you okay?”

Ginny could manage nothing more than a shrug. It was still difficult for her to move. On top of that, she was cold. She laid down and looked around the room. Clean – barren. There wasn’t anything special about the room.

Dean stroked Ginny’s hair. “Good.” Dean was still giving Dr. Hoffman the death stare.

Harry walked over to Dean and Ginny and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Dean said you might have a cure for the virus.” He glanced back at the doctor. “Is that true? It would be nice to have one less thing to worry about. Fighting Voldemort is hard enough. Having to worry about being found out and hunted by muggles isn’t something else we need.”

“I haven’t tested it on a living person,” Dr. Hoffman said as she walked over to one of the workstations. “However, it does seem to react well with some blood samples that I’ve managed to obtain – both from wizards and muggles – as well as rats.”

“So you need a test subject.” Dean looked at Ginny. As if realizing something, he crossed the room as if a magnet were attracting him. “Did you give her some in the pancuronium bromide, nitroglycerin mix?” He grabbed Dr. Hoffman by her shirt and pulled her close. “Did you give some to her without her consent?”

Dr. Hoffman looked like a deer caught in headlights as she grabbed his wrists to pull him off her but to no avail. Before Dr. Hoffman could answer, everything made of glass shattered as Ginny sneezed. “No,” Dr. Hoffman said, gesturing towards Ginny. “No, I did not give her the vaccine.”

Dean dropped her with a huff when he heard a moan coming from the ground beside Ginny; burn mark ran up Harry’s arm. Dean ran over and ripped open Harry’s shirt to see how far the electricity had traveled. Harry was dazed and gasping for air. He had a blister on the palm of both hands where the electricity entered and exited his body.

“Do you have anything to help him?” Dean shouted at Dr. Hoffman, frantic. “Or her?” He realized that Ginny’s sneezing and coughing were far more frequent than his. She was becoming more dangerous.

“Him, no. You’re in a research lab that usually tests on animals. Not a hospital. We don’t have the equipment. As for her,” Dr. Hoffman said pointing to the Ginny who had pressed herself against the wall and was muttering something inaudible. “Well. You just asked if I gave it to her.”

Dean placed his ear over Harry’s mouth and nose and looked at Harry’s chest. He wheezed and struggled for air at first but each breath got a little easier. “Ginny, how are you feeling?” Ginny nodded with effort. “Good. Go over to Dr. Hoffman so she can make sure her concoction hasn’t don’t too much damage.”

Ginny slid off the table and ambled over to the doctor as Dean heaved Harry onto the table Ginny had just gotten off. Dr.

Hoffman backed away from Ginny but she could only make it so far before backing into a wall.

“I’m not going to shock you on purpose,” Ginny whispered. She looked back at Dean taking care of Harry. She knew that Dean didn’t particularly fond Harry being in the same room as her. Dean didn’t want her getting hurt by Harry but it was already too late for that. It touched her that he was willing to help him. She turned back to the doctor. “Are you going to help me or not?”

“You’re fine – except for the virus that is.” She managed a smile. “If you want, I could give it to you.”

Ginny’s voice quivered. How reputable was this doctor? Was the doctor that friend you asked for help when you need something last minute and everyone else was already busy? It didn’t seem as though Dean fully trusted her.

Harry gasps for air became less frequent and less strained. Ginny didn’t want to put her friends and family through that anymore but how can she trust someone who knocked her out for no reason?

“Why should I trust you?” Ginny turned back to Dr. Hoffman. “You knocked me unconscious just because. How do I know you didn’t give me a vaccine that didn’t work? A vaccine that you were hoping to test out?”

“If,” Dr. Hoffman stammered, “you don’t want the vaccine, you can just go somewhere else.” She smiled ever so slightly. Dr. Hoffman turned back to the counter and ruffled through her paperwork. “If you want to look through my research, I’d be happy to give it to you.” She turned back to Ginny and held out a stack of paper.

Ginny narrowed her eyes and slapped the papers out of Dr. Hoffman’s hand. “Look,” she snapped as she got into Dr. Hoffman’s face, “I’m only here because Dean trusts you. Trusted you. You’re a weasel and—”

“Ginny.” A sharp wheeze bit off the last part of Ginny’s sentence. She backed off and turned back to Harry. “She’s only trying to help.”

“Is she?” Ginny dug her nails into the palms of her hands. “Is she really?” She almost flew across the room. “She knocked me out because she ‘didn’t know who I was.’ Really? Is that a valid reason to dose someone? Forgive me but I call bull.” Her chest heaved and her nose flared. She turned to Dean. “Is this really the best you got? I’d much rather do without than deal with her. She is a hazard to our health.”

“You’re a hazard to my health,” Harry said.

“That’s not fair.” The hurt in her eyes was apparent. “It’s one thing to sneeze and emit electricity by accident and another, something completely different, to purposely inject someone with a paralyzing agent and something to knock them out.” She turned to Dean. “If you want to continue putting up with her, fine—”

Dean raised his hand. “We’re simply waiting for Harry to be able to walk so we can get back to the safe house. She’s clearly not ready to administer the vaccine to a person.”

“I’m ready now,” Harry said, his voice sounding seedy. Both Dean and Ginny looked at him as if to say Yeah, right. “Even if I weren’t, I need to be.” Harry nodded towards Dr. Hoffman, who was on the phone with her mouth covered. Ginny helped Dean pull Harry off the table and hobble out the door. “Ah!” Harry winced and buckled under his own weight. “No. You guys go ahead. I still hurt too much. Please!”


	3. Chapter 3

In the process of escaping from Dr. Hoffman’s office, they had encountered a few Patriots. How Harry had survived was a mystery burned into Harry’s mind.

Harry’s knees were damp and brown and raw from him digging them into the ground as he looked over the Ditch of the Dead – a mass grave of all the people, wizards and muggles, who had died trying to find a cure for whatever this virus was. Never in a million years had he thought that he would lose someone outside the grasp of Voldemort but what was even worse than that was watching his best friend’s sister, his love that he didn’t want to hurt, suffer. From where he and Ginny kneeled, they could see Dean’s shaking body weeping over his aunt. There was no saving her, no rewinding time, no fixing what had been done.

Harry dug his fingers into the damp earth below him. Tears created streaks down his blood-crusted face as he rocked, trying to not go insane. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Bullshit, Edmund Burke. Bullshit. There was nothing else they could have done. Not to save Dean's aunt.

The only thing left was to continue looking for a cure, preferably before school started at the end of Christmas break, and amass a healthy army to fight the Dark Lord.


End file.
